Practice Being Still

To My Favorite Yoginis,

Next week is a major Holiday for yogis all around the world. It is Shivaratri, the celebration of Shiva who in Indian mythology is Lord of the Universe. There are many facets to Shiva, and volumes are written by religious scholars interpreting Hindu scripture on attempts at attaining him. The Shiva that I wish to explore with all of you is the one that will help you endure childbirth. It is the Shiva that as my Guru says is "always supremely serene, quiet, and still".

If you attempt to hold what moves inside of you while giving birth, you will be sorely misguided. If however, you attempt to hold Shiva, that aspect of the Self that is still, then you may better endure childbirth's wrath. Too, you just may realize an opportunity of a life time.

In our last yoga class, here is how Heather Benway experienced stillness;

“My physical experience of stillness come from a firm and grounded stance, in which my feet are in full, stable contact with the earth. My emotional experience of stillness comes from focusing on the breath. It helps me to calm and sometimes even quiet the mental chatter that distracts me from the moment.”

Elsa Partan shared her experience of stillness too;

*My experience of stillness is a blank mind and a feeling of relaxation.
* I can best hold my experience of stillness by breathing deeply, closing my eyes.
*During class, I also felt very still when sitting back to back with my partner during the exercises and when I was experiencing a good stretch.

Come to yoga and practice being still.

In love and light,

Maurene

Jessica Shares Her Birth Story

Dear Ones,

It is brave for Jessica to come to prenatal yoga and share her story. It is a heroic act because sharing her story is a form of self honor. Let's get real, women don't just have this incredible, intensely demanding, complex, extraordinary experience and go home and forget about it. We don't. Maybe we would like to, but we don't. Nor do we go home and give our entire being over instantly to our new born babies. It doesn't work like that.

The reality is that we go home and roam in a body that now houses these bold, heavy earthbound sensations. Open achy hips and throbbing thighs that feel robbed of their sockets. The smell of fresh, mucous blood and the salty beads of sweat formed on our brows during pushing. Cooling ice chips, and the machine by our bedside that echoed the reassuring sound of our babies running, thumbing, beating heart beat. We examine the sounds we made, voices of loved ones and care providers, and our feelings about how close we came to having the birth that we imagined. Finally, over time, we can allow our feelings/thoughts/sensations to fade, drift into a memory and put it to bed.

So when a woman comes and shares her story, she is making a statement about who she is. She is honoring herself for being more than a physical body, that she has emotions and thoughts that require processing, integration, and assimilation. Then, if she is so moved, she may wish to follow the story deeper. Like me, I never put my story to bed. To the contrary. I followed the pangs in my heart that called me ever deeper to know more of the origins of birth. Jessica too began to explore more when she described her experience of natural childbirth as "survival". It can be a fitting description of birth, survival, one that I wish to explore more in my next posting. What do women have to gain from enduring natural childbirth? How can we contain what we have attained? Stay with me as we go deeper into childbirth.

In love and light,


Maurene

More On Intention And Rituals

Sarah and Chad have asked me to help them prepare for birth with a private partnered yoga session. Here is an excerpt from my introductory letter encouraging them to use rituals at our session to help support their birth intention, and enliven their experience with beauty, substance, and power.

We can add weight to ritual by framing them in the elements. Consider the following possibilities.

Earth is the grounding, solid, heavy quality needed to give birth. It is the heavy, open pelvis. It's the contracting uterus pulling you down, the blood of a bloody show, and the placenta after birth.

Example

*Crystals

Jessica's mom passed around crystals at her daughter's baby shower inviting guests to meditate and send Jessica blessings and love for her birth. I noticed entering Jessica's room at the hospital that she had the crystals resting on her pregnant belly while she was sleeping.

Fire is the fuel you need to push your baby out, and remain focused on your intention despite tendencies that may keep you feeling small, contracted, and inadequate. You may wish to reflect on your life thus far and call forth those activities or experiences that required you to dig deep? Do you have a momentum symbolic of that time? What reminds you of transformation?

*Unlit candles
*Incense
*Pictures
*Graduation caps

In Love and Light,

Maurene

Create A Ritual For Your Intention

Now that you have your intention, it is time to ground it in ritual. Remember, intention is purposeful creation of thought and moves in realms that are very difficult for us to hold. Despite its' elusive nature, she is worthy of pursuit since intention has the power to direct energy, and energy moves matter including the physical body (even pregnant bodies)! One of the ways we can hold such subtle refinement is to surround ourselves with items that help to arouse its essence. Rituals do just that. Rituals use items in conjunction with activities for the purpose of igniting intention.

The very finest display of ritual I ever encountered was with a woman who gave birth at the hospital. The very moment I walked into her room, my full attention went to an altar she had created on the bureau. Her altar was so elaborate, I couldn't seem to get enough, looking at each of the figures, resisting my temptations to hold and feel them through my fingers.

Many of the items placed on the alter were pieces that she had created ritual around. For example, do you see the bag of small stones in one of the pictures? Every time she thought of herself giving birth and wanting to be open and free, she took one of the pepples and placed it in the small box with the mother and child figure carved on the top.

Consider creating ritual around a steady, continuous yoga practice. Bring a small floral pillow, or even one of the bolsters we use so frequently in our class at the hospital. When it is time to give birth, bring the items with you to help remind you of your intention.

Here are some other ideas you may want to consider using to create ritual for your birth. Integrate the elements into your story to further help ground your intention i.e., earth, water, fire, air and ether. Be creative and have fun!

*bright floral pillows
*music
*photographs
*perfume sprayer filled with rose water
*a bowl of rose water
*jewelry
*sage sticks
*candles (please, they cannot be lit in the hospital)
*chimes to hang on IV poles

In love and light,

Maurene

Listening For Intention In Malasana

My dearest ones,

When I gave birth to my daughter Candyce now almost a quarter of a century ago, I knew nothing about yoga, power in your spine called kundalini, or transformation. All I knew was that I believed that by giving birth naturally I was doing the best for my baby and that the process somehow would bring me closer to her. Of course, I was so madly in love in my pregnancy, I wanted to drown in the intense love that I felt inside of me. I wanted to merge with what was inside of me.

My intention for natural childbirth may have been irrational, but love is not about what is explainable but rather what one is willing to risk for the sake of truth, connection and happiness.

There is an asana called Malasana (squatting) that provides the perfect conditions for one to hear intention in pregnancy. In squatting, there is an opening, with the thighs taken wide, and the womb exposed to daylight. Simultaneously, the pose provides protection needed for introspection, as the spine drapes over the portal to new life. The pose physically is effortless. The work is all inside, breathing, listening, waiting. Waiting, not just for the baby, but what is ever lasting, the glory in the moment.

In love and light,


Maurene

Share Your Story

Dear Ones,

My Alma matte is always encouraging me to tell my story. They say that it is an important part of the school's history. They want to know how my experience has influenced my life, and do I have any advise for new, upcoming students. More than my college years, my birth event was monumental, remarkable. I continue to look back and touch upon the many chapters. It was grueling, exhausting. But somewhere in the heat of all of that work, something happened. I can't recall exactly the moment, but something grand happened and I have never been the same.

How do you want to recall your birth experience, and what can you do to help support your intention?

In the coming year, in yoga, I envision giving women an opportunity to journal about their pregnancy experience. My hope is that it will entice you to continue writing and record, special, significant moments of your birth that capture your heart. For example, Kelly broke all of our hearts in our closing circle when she shared how sweet the smell of her baby Helen was when they first put her on Kelly's chest. These moments are precious, and we should do everything in our power to anchor them deep in our being.

This week in yoga I will be bringing my camera and taking pictures of all of you in poses in anticipation of sharing you on my blog. Then, after you have your babies' I'd love the opportunity to do a feature story on each of you. I truly hope you will join along.

In love and light,


Maurene

Moving In Full Circle

For the next several weeks, we will be putting it all together. Our starting place is early labor, a time to retreat, taking rest and nourishment for the demands ahead. This is the fetal position, being still, connecting with the subtly of cellular breathing. Labor progresses, movement begins slowly, ease fully as we expand outward, from our core like your baby will do when it is time to be born. Active labor involves more concentrated effort, yielding in standing poses, reaching in forward bends while connecting reverently with the breath. We will give birth, arching into backbends, leading with the mouth and pushing with the tail. In postpartum, we round back, reconnecting with our core. This will be a time of strengthening/connecting with the physical body that makes up our core i.e. the pelvic floor, lower abdominals and the muscles of your inner thighs. Finally, our work is complete, we conclude where we begin, resting back, huddled over in the fetal position.